She wanted a late-night hookup, but he fell asleep. So she burned his house down, police say

WOODBURY, N.J. – A New Jersey woman is accused of torching a man's house after he invited her over for late-night sex, then fell asleep and did not hear her at his door.

Taija Russell, 29, was arrested Tuesday in connection with a fire that destroyed a home earlier this month, said Woodbury police.

Police accuse Russell of sending a series of angry texts to the slumbering resident, then buying lighter fluid, matches and a lighter at a nearby gas station around 4 a.m. on Aug. 4.

She's accused of setting a fire outside the sole doorway to the man's home, then fleeing as the flames spread, according to a probable cause statement for her arrest.

The victim, whose name has not been released, awoke around 4:30 a.m. to find flames blocking the exit from his smoke-filled residence. He escaped by physically removing a window frame and climbing through the opening, police said.

Taija Russell of Gloucester Township(Photo: Photo provided)

The man, described as "covered head to toe in soot and ash" and wearing only a T-shirt, then ran around two-tenths of a mile to Woodbury's police station.

He "frantically" announced that his residence was burning, then ran back to his home, says the probable cause statement.

The victim was taken to a hospital to be treated for smoke inhalation and first- and second-degree burns, according to police.

Firefighters from Woodbury and surrounding towns responded to the blaze, saving the man's dog.

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In this June 11, 2019 photo, firefighter Andrew Pettit, right, walks among the flames in Cedar Grove as fire ecologist Tony Caprio, center, take a photo and firefighter Julio Campos looks on during a prescribed fire in Kings Canyon National Park, Calif. The prescribed burn, a low-intensity, closely managed fire, was intended to clear out undergrowth and protect the heart of Kings Canyon National Park from a future threatening wildfire. The tactic is considered one of the best ways to prevent the kind of catastrophic destruction that has become common, but its use falls woefully short of goals in the West. Brian Melley, AP

In this June 11, 2019 photo, firefighters prepare to protect Knapp's Cabin, a storage shed from the 1920s that is the oldest building in Cedar Grove, during a prescribed burn at Kings Canyon National Park, Calif. Brian Melley, AP

In this June 10, 2019 photo, burn boss Andrew Cremers briefs firefighters from Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Parks before the start of a two-day prescribed burn in Cedar Grove in Kings Canyon National Park, Calif. Brian Melley, AP

In this June 10, 2019 photo, fire information officers Rebecca Paterson, left, and Mike Theune, right, move a trailer containing firefighting equipment and other items they use to educate visitors about a prescribed burn in Kings Canyon National Park, Calif. Brian Melley, AP